Return to Zero
by TheMasterPlan7823
Summary: Fame is a fickle mistress, always taking her toll until you are left with nothing. Tatsuya isn't exactly famous, but he's definitely in the spotlight, just leave it to one strange occurrence leading into a stranger world, one that reeks of fantasy overtones...


Another day between cradle and grave, it's all pointless. It's always been, plain and simple, boring as hell. No, it's been worse than that, it's completely mindless, it feels like death. I want something exciting in my life, something thrilling, something... dangerous. I made my way to the gas station to pick up some snacks for tonight's game session, the DLC for Bloodborne was released recently and I intend on completing it, but even playing games of the 'Souls-Borne' series has gotten boring. Isn't that sad? Perhaps an everyday routine was the last thing humanity needed to come up with. After returning home, I dropped my bag on the floor and slumped into my swivel chair, pulling up my legs so it's more like crouching rather than sitting.

"It's time..." I mumbled under my breath before turning the PlayStation on and inviting a friend of mine to play Bloodborne.

"I haven't kept you waiting long, have I?" I asked into the microphone.

"No, you're pretty early for once." A voice on the other side answered.

"That's funny, considering I'm always inviting you to play, Subaru." I said smugly.

He said nothing, besides the occasional gloating when we'd rarely get through an area without abusing the 'smack the dude after he smacks you for free health' mechanic. But we couldn't beat the first dungeon of this new map, I kept nearly falling asleep, even though I stocked on energy drinks. Honestly, it's a little disappointing that I couldn't play to my best ability. Soon after, we just called it quits and talked.

"So, exams are coming up next week." Subaru groaned.

"Yes, but it's nothing I can't handle." I mumbled.

Subaru laughed, "Yeah, 'cause you've been top of the class since middle school. That explains the bags under your eyes."

Mentioning my eyes made me rub them in reflex, but the thing about my grades made me think back to freshman year. I studied as hard as possible to keep grades in a straight line, to the point where I could get one hundred percent in any class without trying. As such, I think I'm sought after by a few girls, maybe even guys. It doesn't help that my actions would either paint me as weird or mysterious, why are people attracted to that? It honestly irritates me.

"Time to sleep." I mumbled, tossing myself on my bed, keeping my arms spread.

I was too tired to change, my clothes stayed where the were. Jacket, shirt, pants, shoes, backpack held by the top strap in my hand. My phone was kept on my nightstand, charger plugged in. In my mind, I pictured a much brighter place, a fantasy world, with dragons, animal people, some kind of medieval architecture, maybe a few cute girls who aren't absolutely annoying (Hey, I never said I didn't want a girlfriend). I started to wonder what it would be like over there before I started to sleep.

When I woke up, I could hear people around me. The sun was over my eyelids, making me cover them before opening.

"What the fuck?"

The very fantasy world I imagined before I went to bed, it's now right in front of me. I would say I couldn't believe it, but how can you deny what's right in front of you? So, would this be a Flash Gordon/Army of Darkness/Brütal Legend/That one hentai doujin where the kid takes over hell with the power of the smex scenario? Whatever the case, I stood up and noticed what I had with me. My backpack was my pillow and my phone was in my breast pocket, full internet connection and infinite battery (saying that the phone was charged without needing a charger) but no service, so I can't make any calls but I can watch videos and surf the web. I don't use social media, in case you're wondering, and there's no way that's going to change. Lucky for me, I had some snacks and drinks from last night, seems like even I can put a cork in my gluttonous tendencies. Jesus, such a sugar addict. But that's not what matters now, I need shelter, clean water, something over my head would be nice. After taking a quick look at some signposts, I noticed that this world had its own written language, I mean, they can speak Japanese/English/Whatever (take your pick) language, but some kind of Nordic/Elvish for writing.

"Hey, you gonna stand there gawkin' or actually buy somethin'?!"

I looked up and eyed a man in his... 30's, I want to say, standing behind a produce stand, selling various fruits and vegetables.

"What exactly are you selling?" I asked.

"Appas." Appas? You mean apples? Who came up with this terminology, an infant?

"How much for one?" I asked.

The guy fiddled with a toothpick in his mouth before answering, "9 Lugons."

I chuckled slightly at the sound of the word, did he say 'Loogeys'? Whatever currency it was, I didn't have it, so this would be where I test the conversion rate?

"What the hell kinda cash is that? We don't accept that in Lugunica, but that'd mean yer dead broke. So what are you still doing here, get lost!" He shouted, not giving me a second to think.

I hung my head in defeat, walking away after bidding him a good day. What am I supposed to do? I'm not exactly the best at taking care of anything, to be fair, I'm not exactly the type to be making messes everywhere I go, I shower and brush my teeth every day, so hygiene isn't an issue. But how am I going to get any sort of money? How am I gonna eat? How am I gonna properly take care of myself?!

Since when did I turn into a broke/jobless Donald Duck? Yes, you were supposed to read that in a whiny tone on par with Robin from the Joel Schumacher movies and that blind kid from Starchaser, you know, that movie that's basically Star Wars, but the Han Solo rip off has a look on his face that says "Yup, I'm about to get some ass" and then probes a Fem-bots butt... A Fem-butt, if you will!

"Son of a bitch! This place sucks!" I shouted, gripping both sides of my head and throwing myself upwards.

"What are you babbling about?" Somebody behind me said.

There were three guys, one is short and has a bowl cut, the other is a tall and bulky black dude, and the guy in the middle has pale blue hair that goes over his eye, handcuff on his right wrist, and a delightfully "UGGHHH MY LIFE SUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKSSS" tone to his voice.

"Hand over whatever you got and we won't hurt cha!" The emo exclaimed.

Wait, this could be my one chance to see if this place gave me anything to protect myself with, like those games where someone get magic powers just because magic is a thing. I do know how to box (thank you dad, you wild sonnovabich). I spaced my legs a bit, cocked my head to the side, and beckoned them over. "You want my shit? Well, come on, big boys!"

They looked at each other before 'Tears of Unenthusiasm' (Spot the reference, win a prize!) rushed at me with a pair of dual blades. Okay, that's bad, but I stood my ground. 'Edge McLord' swung a knife, in response, I stepped back before it could connect, dashed forward and punched him in the gut and brought his chin to my knee.

"How did…?!"

"I do that? Because I know what I'm doing, kinda threw a wrench in your plans, did I?" My ego is swelling nicely now, thanks for asking.

"Oh, shit! Let's bounce!" The shorty said.

The three of them ran as I shouted at 'em, something about this being my house, don't remember, having too much fun. Now I'm starting to think I have some issues, but I don't care, I've never felt more alive! Got all this energy and I need to burn it off.

"I've never seen someone scare off three to one in a single stroke."

I looked to the side and saw a woman who looked to be about my age, she wore a white robe-like dress and hair to match, purple eyes, and I noticed she had pointed ears. I immediately started laughing while she stared at me.

"I can handle emos with an inferiority complex, I can handle animal people... But elves?! Fucking elves, seriously?!" I fell over, laughing so damn hard.

The woman stood there as I cackled myself deaf, cocking an eyebrow at my 'ludicrous' behavior.

"I'm a half elf, for your information." She said.

"Ooh, even better." I said in a creepy tone before walking up to her, "So, what do you want?"

The girl mumbled to herself before speaking up, "I believed you were in trouble, and now I see you're not. With that, I'll take my leave." She said before turning on her heel.

"Wait, just who the hell are you?!" I asked.

She glanced back at me for a second before continuing to walk wherever she was walking to. I followed her in hopes of getting some kind of information about where I am, where I can go to do some work, and where I can sleep.

"Why are you following me?" She demanded, seems my tactic didn't work, time for a different strategy.

"I want to know where I am, if that's too much to ask for." I snarkily replied, nice one.

"Lugunica, that's where, are you new here? You seem to be, if your clothes are any indication." She replied, pointing at me.

"My clothes? Oh, right! Everyone here dresses like it's still the preindustrial era." I said to myself, slapping the side of my head.

The girl cocked her head to the side and laughed, "I don't think I've met someone as expressive as you."

I looked back at her and slyly grinned, "Don't get used to it."

She beckoned me to follow her, keeping her eyes on the ground and occasionally glancing over to me.

"So, what's your name?" I asked out of left field.

"Hm? Why are you asking that?" The girl replied.

"So I'm not confused about it later." I answered.

The girl nodded and held her hand out.

"Call me Emilia."

"Tatsuya..." I answered, shaking her hand.

You know what? I'm actually starting to like this place a bit more, sure, the people aren't exactly pleasant and I was nearly mugged. But Emilia seems like a nice person, and I'm hoping she has nice friends that I'll get introduced to. I miss Natsuki, though, he was my best friend, ever since we were little. It saddened me when I found out he decided to drop out from school, that meant I had no one intelligent to talk to, just fangirls and brown-nosing teachers.

"You seem a bit lost in your thoughts, is something wrong?" Emilia asked.

I looked at her from the corner of my eye and scoffed.

"It's nothing to worry yourself over." I said.

I hope to see you again, old friend. Emilia led me through the streets, eventually leading to a large mansion, seems like I completely phased out on the way here, I forgot the way. This house was absurdly huge, and here I thought the only way I'd ever see medieval castles was in my history books! But this is something glorious, and I don't think I'll ever get enough of it. We went inside and my eyes were greeted by three figures, two girls wearing maid outfits, they both had the same hairstyle, difference was that one had blue hair and the other pink, as well as being mirrored, no doubt that these are twins (I personally found the blue haired one a bit cuter). The other was a smaller girl that had long blonde twintails ending in magenta with a center parting, revealing her massive forehead, she wore a frilly red dress and a short furred cape.

"Welcome Lady Emilia, the Lord Roswaal is currently out, but we have prepared dinner..." Their unison voices trailed off when they took notice of me. "Who is this?"

"Sister, sister, Lady Emilia brought a stranger, it seems he's not from here." The blue one said.

"Rem, Rem, he's staring at us, undressing us in his mind, perhaps?" The pink one replied.

I cocked an eyebrow and softly chuckled, "Why would you assume that I'd do something so ludicrous? You don't know me."

The maids looked and nodded at each other before bowing to me.

"Ram, Rem, I want you to show this man around the manor. If you could also provide one of the guest rooms for him, that would be swell." Emilia said before heading off with the tiny girl.

This left me with the passive-aggressive maids, much to my dismay. They gave me the general tour, kitchen, VIP lounge, washroom, Roswaal's office, dining hall, ballroom, and some weird temporal rift in the house that connected the library to any door in the manor.

"What are you staring for, it's quite rude, I suppose." The tiny girl said.

"If it's alright, I'd like to read whatever history tomes you might have. I want to learn as much as I can about your world."

The girl kept her bored face as she stuffed her nose into another book. I sighed and continued to follow the cotton-candy haired maids until they stopped at another door.

'Where I'll be staying for now', I thought.

The maids walked off before I could ask anymore questions, luckily that the blue haired one, Rem, was a little slower than her sister.

"Hey, I still have questions." I called out.

Rem turned to me and had a plastered mask of emotionlessness. There was this air of power that came from her, like she could kill me in a second if she so desired.

"Sir, if you have questions, wait until Lord Roswaal returns." Rem answered before turning back to the door.

"Why should I? I barely know your world enough as it is." I said, pocketing my left hand and holding the right out. "Curiosity is my weakness, it must be satiated."

Rem shot me with an ice cold glare, unsettling me even further. I'm guessing that she doesn't consider me worth trusting, so I'll need to be patient with this one.

"Look, we may have gotten onto the wrong foot, let's start back at square one. My name is Tatsuya Minamimoto, you're Rem, yes?" I held my hand towards her.

She glanced at me, then at my hand, before reluctantly shaking it.

"See, now that wasn't so hard. I'll come to you or the small one if I have any questions, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help, alright?"

"You certainly are a strange one, Tatsuya. Thank you for your offer, though it is not my place to hire you, you'll have to ask Lord Roswaal about that."

Loyal to a fault, this one, I like it. Yeah, he does own the place. I twirl my ponytail around a bit before giving Rem a smile and walking into the room. It isn't much to look at, but it'll do, and it's not too different to my old room, so I should adjust nicely. Wait, didn't they say that dinner was ready? I'll save those chips for a rainy day. Time to see what they have in the dining hall.

"Tatsuya, so kind of you to join us." Emilia says, motioning to the seat next to her.

I take said seat and see what the maids have... made, god, that sounded awful. Corn-sausage chowder, smells good. Carefully, I grab a spoon and take a bite. It melts in my mouth as both sweet and spice fuse in one perfect display of flavor.

"Whoever made this have a gift from the gods themselves!" I declared.

The room went quiet for a second, the silence broken when the midget coughed. I looked around and saw Rem staring at the floor.

"It was you, wasn't it?" I asked.

"Sorry, but I've never been complimented so... extremely before." It was a little hard to tell, but I could swear that she is blushing.

Dinner was rather eventful, the girls had plenty to talk about, but that didn't stop from making me feel like the odd one out, most of it was nonsense that I couldn't understand. It was fun to listen either way. What I could gather is that Emilia is one of many heirs to the throne and Roswaal is apparently immortal, just changing his middle initial every century. Mages being so powerful that they are capable of immortality, I've heard that somewhere before.

"So, what is it like at your home, Tatsuya?"

I looked up and cleared my throat. It'd be a pain to explain everything, but I can show them. I pull out my phone and go to the pictures, showing the four girls pictures of buildings, birds, meals, my shadow at the park, and many pictures of me and Subaru, the last one of us was of Subaru holding up a peace sign and I'm pointing at the camera like a male model.

"You and that boy are close friends, I suppose." The midget claims.

"Sister, sister, the architecture is stranger than I thought." Rem whispered.

"Rem, Rem, What is it that they are eating? It looks like slop." Ram whispered back.

"Interesting, that's what your world is like." Emilia looked at me, like a sister comforting her brother. "Do you miss him?"

I say nothing and only nod.


End file.
